User blog:Reaper with no name/Comparative Analysis: The Mk Is
I've been asked to do a Comparative Analysis for Coyote Tango, Tacit Ronin, and Romeo Blue (I'll throw in Horizon Brave just for the heck of it). We didn't really see much from them, so this will be highly speculative. Statlines For Speed/Strength/Armor, Coyote Tango gets 5/7/4, Tacit Ronin gets 8/7/3, Romeo Blue gets 2/7/6, and Horizon Brave gets 8/4/6. This comes to a total of 16 for Tango, 18 for Ronin, 15 for Romeo, and 18 for Brave. Physical Features Tacit Ronin is said to have rear thrusters on its wiki page, but I cannot find any source to corroborate that, so I will ignore it. Fist and Bladed Weaponry Tacit Ronin has two fangblades. Given the technology gap (Tacit Ronin is a Mk I; Striker and Gipsy's blades were produced with technology from the Mk V era and beyond), they probably aren't as effective, and there's nothing to indicate they possess any cauterizing properties. Horizon Brave can channel the power of its cryo cannons through its fists for stronger punches. The freezing should theoretically make the target's skin more brittle and therefore shatter when struck. However, the amount of freezing is likely not as great as when the cannons themselves are used, simply because fists only make contact for a short time when punching. Ranged Weaponry Horizon Brave has weapons known as cryo cannons. They most likely shoot reactor coolant with effects similar to Gipsy Danger's coolant vent. However, as they are intended weapons (rather than an improvised one), they likely doesn't use the coolant reserved for Horizon Brave's reactor (or if they do, it likely has extra coolant reserves for that purpose). The fact that the weapons are noted as "cannons" also suggests that they have a bit of range. However, like Cherno Alpha's incinerator turbines, they almost certainly don't have the range of Striker's missiles or Gipsy's plasma cannons. And while I believe they should be able to freeze as efficiently as Gipsy's coolant vent in theory, in practice the target will likely not stay in one place while it is being hit by the cryo cannons (remember that Gipsy was grappling with Otachi when it vented its coolant), which would limit their usefulness somewhat. Romeo Blue has a gatling chest. This likely has range equal to (or even exceeding) that of Striker's missiles and Gipsy's plasma cannons. However, given its status as a fully automatic weapon, its accuracy probably limits its effective range somewhat. Given that it fires bullets instead of plasma or missiles, the gatling chest's damage is probably not very high (though the fire rate should help somewhat), and it certainly does nothing to stop blueshed. Coyote Tango is known to possess two mortar cannons. Given their size, it's hard not to believe that they were more powerful than any other Mk I long range weapon. However, if they were capable of inflicting as much damage as, say, a plasma cannon, then there would be no need for Coyote Tango to ever come close enough for hand to hand combat. Therefore, I conclude that they were likely weaker than plasma cannons. And as ballistic weapons, they are also unlikely to prevent blueshed. Coyote Tango's second weapon, the energy caster, appears to be a precursor to the more modern plasma casters that Gipsy Danger and Crimson Typhoon use. Like a plasma cannon, the energy caster fires blue energy (we can see blue flashes in Mako's memory), it fires multiple times in rapid succession (at least three shots can be heard), and it heats up the target (Onibaba's corpse appears to be scorched). It's worth noting that Travis Beacham claims that Mako's memory of the event is not completely accurate (the fight lasted far, far longer than we saw), but the easiest way to explain this is to assume lapses in memory, and that all the things we did see happened the way they were shown (and in any case, her memory is all we have to go on for this). All in all, the energy caster seems comparable to pre-upgrade Gipsy's plasma cannon, albeit almost certainly weaker. A particularly astute observer might note that 3-4 shots from Gipsy's plasma cannon were required to kill Knifehead, while roughly the same number were required to kill Onibaba (who has 9 armor instead of 7). However, Onibaba was clearly shot in the underbelly, which is also its weak point, so we need not concern ourselves with that. Coyote Tango's page claims that the energy caster is forearm-mounted (which would open up the possibility of two, especially given that Gipsy has two plasma cannons despite only possessing one plasma caster), however, the linked source does not say anything about how the weapon is mounted. Furthermore, being forearm-mounted would not necessarily prove that a weapon is on both arms, so I have little choice but to assume that it is a single weapon. So, how do they compare? Romeo Blue has a decent ranged weapon with a long range. Coyote Tango does even better on that front. Tacit Ronin has no ranged options at all, but does have bladed weapons. Horizon Brave's cryo cannons offer it a useful midrange weapon, and it has a close range weapon in the form of the sub-zero suckerpunch. Their first round of competition are the reigning champions of Kaiju-killing, Striker Eureka and Gipsy Danger. Gipsy Danger can do at least a little bit of everything that each Mk I can do (and usually better than they can) with superior physical abilities and a few unique tricks of its own. Striker Eureka isn't as good on the utility belt front, but brings even more physical power to the party. Obviously, these Mk Is are not in the same league as Gipsy and Striker. The only significant advantage Coyote Tango and Romeo Blue have over either Gipsy or Striker are the greater range of their weapons. In just about every other way the champions beat them handily. Tacit Ronin has it even worse; possessing no significant advantages over Striker and Gipsy. Horizon Brave is a little better off, as it can freeze targets better than either Gipsy or Striker, but that doesn't come close to compensating for the disadvantages it possesses compared to them. It doesn't get better for the Mk Is when they are compared to Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha. Again, the range advantage of Romeo Blue and Coyote Tango doesn't compensate for their physical and melee inferiority. Tacit Ronin's blades are probably better than Crimson Typhoon's (by virtue of being larger), but again, that does not compensate for its inferiority in all other areas. Horizon Brave's freezing gimmick is likewise simply not enough when Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon have higher stats and gimmicks of their own. Conclusion We are now left with comparisons between the Mk Is themselves. Romeo Blue is probably the weakest of them. Not only is it (by a whisker) the weakest in terms of stats, but its gatling chest is probably not an especially effective weapon (and doesn't even stop blueshed). Tacit Ronin and Coyote Tango are in a dead heat for the next spot. Tacit Ronin has slightly better stats and has the advantage of those fangblades (even if they cause blueshed). However, Coyote Tango has exceptionally good (for a Mk I) long range options. At the top of the heap for this group is Horizon Brave by a nose, mainly because of the fact that its freezing capabilities are useful at both close and mid range. I wish to stress that the results of this analysis are highly influenced by speculation, as data on these four is scarce. Nevertheless, there it is. Category:Blog posts